Draft work plans before construction begins - what must be considered before approval

Hello,

I would like to know what should be considered before signing and approving the draft work plans?
There are many details that an unprofessional client may not understand.
Is it absolutely necessary to hire a specialist? May I also submit the work plans here for additional review?

My subjective assessment and experience from two years ago:

- You need to take several hours for the construction plans, and all adult persons who will live in the house should check the plans down to the centimeter. We checked multiple times. I also recommend doing the complete review on several different days, as "one" is not equally concentrated and focused every day.
- In which direction(s) do doors and windows open. Which leaf opens first and might collide with the shower or bathtub or protrude into them.
- Are the size specifications correct, are the doors and windows drawn in the right shape in the correct place. (For example, a window was drawn in the wrong place for us. In a symmetrical house, that would have looked very bad and nobody else noticed except us.)
- The utility room is also important. Where are boilers, tanks, etc. Can something still be optimized there. For example, in our case, the "equipment" was distributed on more walls than necessary. So every trade had plenty of space, but we are missing a "free" wall.
- I also find the door thresholds important. We decided on "floor-to-ceiling" and assumed that would be virtually "flat." However, we have about an 8cm high threshold on every "floor-to-ceiling" window and on the patio doors.
- Water connections for washing machines, sinks, etc. correctly drawn.
- We did not consult a professional.

If I think of anything else, I will gladly get back to you.

Much joy and success with your building project.

Hello, we really took a lot of time back then for the plans. But at some point, you become blind to the operation, if we weren’t already as laymen. Due to the amount of the total investment and the same uncertainty, we asked an architect back then if she could also look over floor plans from "external" general contractors/developers and tidy up the floor plan if needed.

We paid around ~200 euros for 1.5 hours back then. For that, she redrew the floor plan and corrected my mistakes. If we build again, I would probably build directly through an architect. It’s simply a different level/type compared to building with GC/DE.

I can only recommend it. Usually, the costs are not in any proportion to what you pay in total.

Things that you might not notice but we did:
- Where the light hits when and where it remains forever dark.
- Completely impractical corners. Dirt niches.
- Outbuilding placement
- Sliding doors that look nice but insulate noise worse.
- Distances in walking paths

Best regards

I agree with my predecessors:

[*]Windows and doors are often quickly drawn in somehow and then never corrected. (Position, size, tilting possibility, opening first left or right or both, etc.)
[*]Exact specification of installation areas for cabinets including plaster
[*]Power outlets for lamps, sockets, switches, etc.
[*]Height of the house in the terrain, placement of outdoor facilities including pipes, cisterns, electricity box, heat pump, garbage bins, etc.)
[*]Garage width and driveway sufficient?
[*]Stairs: riser height, tread depth, stair width checked and approved?
[*]Check installation areas for kitchen plan including outlets
[*]Check paths and space for drainage, pipes, power lines between floors
[*]Possibly mark installation areas without underfloor heating or with increased load capacity for e.g.: piano, aquarium, fireplace, etc.
[*]Plan empty conduits from the technical room to the garden gate, neighboring buildings (e.g. shed for lighting or Christmas tree lighting) and to the roof / basement.

Nothing else comes to mind for now.

I just thought of something; sounds trivial, but it's not:

Power outlets. Yes, you think, heard that a thousand times. ;-) It only occurred to me after moving in that instead of furniture on some free walls, we wanted a "statement wallpaper." And sometimes power outlets, thermostats, light switches, etc., got in the way. You can cover them up, but then they’re missing again.

Therefore, I advocate that if you don’t place furniture everywhere, but also want free walls for a nice picture or something else, to check even more carefully that you don’t have the aforementioned necessary connections installed in places where they might later bother you for aesthetic reasons.